Ministry of Health to require employees to declare assets | Arab News

 The Ministry of Health is considering imposing an asset declaration as well as an absence of interest conflict testimony on its employees as a measure in fighting corruption. Health Minister Khalid Al-Falih made the announcement at a one-day forum on promoting integrity and combating corruption in the health care sector.

The forum was organized by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nazaha) in collaboration with the Council of Health Service which is chaired by the minister. “Integrity should be the foundation of the health sector; otherwise people’s health and lives will be jeopardized in the very place entrusted with protecting them,” he said, stressing his ministry’s determination to eliminate corruption and misbehavior.


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Ministry of Health to require employees to declare assets | Arab News

Why you can't just wipe out mosquitoes to get rid of the Zika virus - Saudi Gazette

On Saturday Colombia’s national health institute confirmed that more than 2,100 pregnant Colombian women are infected with the Zika virus, which has been linked to a devastating birth defect that affects a fetus’ brain.

The mosquito-borne disease, for which there is no vaccine or treatment, has been quickly spreading across the Americas since May, when the first confirmed Zika infection was reported in Brazil. More than 4 million people could be infected by the end of the year,
according to the World Health Organization.


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Why you can't just wipe out mosquitoes to get rid of the Zika virus - Saudi Gazette

Ghada Al-Mutairi — Saudi scientist who changed the concept of surgery - Saudi Gazette

 An ambitious Saudi woman has yet again proved sky is the limit for excellence. Ghada Mutlaq Al-Mutairi, 39, received a $3 million global innovation award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest organization supporting medical research in the United States, for her invention that changed the way surgical procedures are carried out in the country.

Al-Mutairi, who holds a doctorate in materials chemistry, currently lives in the US. She is a faculty member at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and director of the Center of Excellence in Nanomedicine.

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Ghada Al-Mutairi — Saudi scientist who changed the concept of surgery - Saudi Gazette

Hemophilia: Trained staff needed | Arab News

 Dr. Hazzaa Al-Zahrani, director of hematology and fellowship training programs at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, has warned against the increasing risk of hemophilia in the Gulf region.
He said about 75 percent of the people suffering from the bleeding disorder in developing countries do not receive enough or adequate treatment, or none at all, because health systems in these countries already have enough on their hands among health problems such
as dealing with malignant and infectious diseases.

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Hemophilia: Trained staff needed | Arab News

Sakaka hospital scores a first | Arab News

 A medical team at a hospital in Sakaka successfully conducted the first laparoscopic procedure of its kind in the region by using this modern technique.
The medical team, headed by Dr. Sami Al-Asari at the King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital, operated on a 60-year-old Saudi woman to remove a 40cm long stone in her small intestine through laparoscopic surgery.

Laparoscopic surgery is a procedure that uses a thin, lighted tube put through a cut or incision in the abdomen.  Director General of Health Affairs in Al-Jouf Hussein Al-Ruwaidi thanked Al-Asari and his team for their medical achievement.

Talking about the procedure, Al-Asari said that when the patient was brought to the hospital’s emergency department, she was suffering from extreme pain. “The patient also complained of frequent vomiting,” said Al-Asari, also the hospital’s department of surgery head and general and colorectal surgery department consultant.

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Sakaka hospital scores a first | Arab News

‘Designer’ babies possible: ‘Gene editing’ given green light | Arab News

British scientists have been given the go-ahead by the fertility regulator to genetically modify human embryos, BBC has reported. It is the first time a country has considered the DNA-altering technique in embryos and approved it, said the global channel.

The research will take place at the Francis Crick Institute in London and
aims to provide a deeper understanding of the earliest moments of human
life.

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‘Designer’ babies possible: ‘Gene editing’ given green light | Arab News

50 AIDS counseling clinics in Riyadh planned | Arab News

Fifty AIDS counseling clinics will be opened in health centers and hospitals in Riyadh soon.
These centers will have separate departments for both men and women, said Mohammad Al-Dhafeeri, director of the AIDS program. The measures will be taken to prevent a rise in AIDS cases.

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50 AIDS counseling clinics in Riyadh planned | Arab News